Cranberries Make the Urinary Track Infection Slide Right Out of You

I came across this statistic that astounded me.

"Urinary tract infections occur 25 times more often in women than in men. Between the ages of 20 and 50, women have UTIs 50 times more often than men. Each year, UTIs are the reason for more than 5 million visits to the doctor in the United States."
-Healthsquare.com

But then I started to think out of my friends and family members how many have had at least on urinary track infection this year alone. The 5 million doctor visits because of UTI now do not surprise me.

For years I have been told that cranberries help prevent urinary track infections. Even if you have a UTI that it may help slow down the spread of the infection.

Ok, how do cranberries help? I never really got a straight answer from anyone. The best answer I got was the 'It just works so keep taking them'.

I came across this cool animated video from hurdstudios.com. The animation shows how the bacteria normally attach itself to the bladder wall and starts the infection.

Making the bladder slippery

There are chemicals in cranberries that will attach themselves to the bacteria preventing the bacteria from attaching to the bladder wall. Then when you go pee the urine and bacteria are flushed out. No infection!

The other thing that cranberries do is change the pH (a measurement of how acidic a liquid is) of the urine making the bladder a much harsher environment for the bacteria.

Cranberries have a long hang time

Researchers are now discovering that the slipperiness effect that cranberries have on the bacteria may last much longer than what they thought. It appears that the compounds in cranberries stay in the body for up to two years.

Over time the amount of the cranberry compounds diminishes and thus the effectiveness is reduced as well.

How much and in what form

Take a stroll down the juice isle in the local grocery store and there are a bewildering amount of juice flavors, bottles and blends. Which cranberry juice is the right one to drink? How much do I need to drink how often?

So then you head over to the supplements / vitamins section of the store and you find a bewildering assortment of cranberry pills and capsules. Read the dosage label and it could be anywhere from 1 capsule a day to three capsules three times a day!

From my research, here is what I have been able to determine is the right amount of cranberries to eat, or drink per day.

• 1/4 cup of frozen or fresh cranberries
• 1/3 cup of sweetened, dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup of cranberry sauce
• In pill form I recommend TheraCran. It has the most amount of the active ingredient than any of the other pills.
• 1/4 cup of 100% cranberry juice - it tastes sour. Dilute it with water.
  

The cranberry blend juices contain very little cranberry and are mostly apple and grape juice. I stay away from the blended and cocktail drinks.

Why are women so much more likely to get UTI?

The commonly held belief is that a UTI is caused by love making. Which is true to a point; however, there are other factors involved such as wiping your bottom the wrong direction, delaying to go to the bathroom until the very last second, to a woman's anatomy. Women have a much shorter urethra then men which allows the bacteria a quick and easy access to the bladder.

Hold on men, you can get a UTI also.

Other UTI prevention methods

How else can women, and men, rid themselves of urinary track infections without having to constantly resort to antibiotics? Antibiotics work great, however, over time the bacteria can become resistant to the antibiotic.

Find out how to naturally cure UTI.

Discover which foods to avoid to prevent UTIs from coming back. Learn about lifestyle changes that will keep your urinary tract healthy and no it doesn’t require you to become celibate.

Naturally cure UTI

Do You have an Upper or Lower Urinary Track Infection - What is the difference?

I am always on the look out for urinary track infection tips. I came across this interesting

Were you aware that there are different types of urinary track infections? I never realized it. I always that that a UTI was a UTI.

Well it turns out there are two different kinds of urinary tract infections upper and lower. Lower UTI is the most common. A lower urinary track infection is where bacteria enter from the outside of the body into the urethra and migrate into the bladder.

Here is how they explained it.

“If you feel a burning sensation while urinating, but no other symptoms, you probably have urethritis, an infection of the urethra.
Cystitis occurs when bacteria work their way up from the urethra to infect the bladder. This is the most common UTI and it is most often found in women who have repeated infections. Urethritis and cystitis frequently occur together.”
Not all urinary track infections show any signs. Some of my close friends have had a lower UTI that showed no signs, no burning during urination, no abdominal pain, no discolored urine or blood in the urine. That was until it became an upper UTI.

It hit them in the middle of the night. They woke up with an incredibly sharp, piercing pain on one side just below the rib cage.

It went from a wait until the doctor’s office opens and get an appointment to, take me to the emergency room now. I never liked getting those phone calls in the middle of the night, but she was in bad shape.

Here is how they explained an upper urinary track infection in more detail.

“If a lower UTI is left untreated, the bacteria can spread beyond the bladder, through one of the ureters, and into a kidney. This infection, known as pyelonephritis, requires immediate medical care. Symptoms are stronger than a lower UTI: back pain (since the kidneys are located there), fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting as well as the typical complaints associated with cystitis. If allowed to persist, this condition can become chronic and eventually lead to kidney damage or even kidney failure.”


Here is the link…

I am very interested in hearing your thoughts.

Cranberry the Natural Cure for a Urinary Track Infection

I came across an interesting article about the effects of cranberries on preventing urinary track infections.

I have known for years that cranberries help in fighting off urinary track infections. I am astounded they can have such a long effect.

Here is what they had to say about cranberries and urinary track infections.

"The good news is that cranberry research supports not only the reduction of recurrent UTIs by half, but now a new study suggests cranberry compounds may help prevent recurrent UTIs for as long as two years."

Here is a link to the article...

Love to hear your comments.